Surgery

Another Mike post.  This morning Benjamin had surgery to remove his adenoids and insert tubes in his ears.  His hearing has been limited by frequent fluid in his ears and the tubes should help flush them out properly.  His adenoids (enlarged lymphoid tissue in the upper throat) frequently swell, impeding speech while causing further congestion.  The surgery went well.  Both of these procedures are common for young children, but it was still scary.  He had to be put under for the operation and the breathing mask scared him. He was also frightened to wake up after the surgery w/the mask on, a tube in his mouth, and an IV in his arm.  He really is a trooper though and he calmed down pretty quickly.  He is currently taking nap #2 of the day b/c we started at 5am this morning and he was drugged up so he's extremely tired.  He's predictably cranky and sore, but other than that he's OK.

Here he is looking pretty miserable post surgery.  I'm letting him do whatever he wants today.  Here he wanted to watch TV.  He hasn't smiled post-surgery yet, but he's eating well and speaking frequently.  He grimaces when he swallows.  We're sticking with soft foods, which happen to be many of his favorites anyway. He doesn't want to be put down much, so I've spent most of the afternoon holding him.  Its another beautiful day in Germany, so I think I'll take him out for a walk in the stroller when he wakes up.  He normally enjoys that.  We go back to see the doctor again tomorrow morning for a check up, but so far it seems that he's doing just fine.

Mike